The Four X's
by Smiles Burn In The Styx
Summary: Fix my Broken Heart- Mortal AU Percabeth, Jiper one-shot: They're just regular old teenagers with some regular old broken hearts. Two hit it off, and the other two are more careful. Of course, after the first experience of love, you're cautious with the second.


**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase belong to each other, and the same with Jason Grace and Piper McLean. Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano and Luke Castellan belong to themselves, Rachel Elizabeth Dare to the Oracle of Delphi, and Dylan to the winds. Kelli the empousai belongs to Tartarus. Neither I nor Rick Riordan would like to anger these characters by claiming them. Only their godly parent can claim them (if they have one).**

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><p><strong><span>The Four X's<span>**

_You're annoying, irritating, you get on my nerves, and drive me to no ends. But you're the only one who can make me smile because of those things._

**Annabeth** wanted to strangle Piper, then feed her to the dogs.

She felt sick, tired, and she was in pain; whether it was physical or mental she didn't know.

But here she was, sitting next to her best friend (whom she wanted to strangle), waiting for the camera to finish processing what it was looking for.

"Why are we doing this?" she finally asked after two torturous minutes.

"You need to move on!" Piper insisted.

Annabeth shook her head, her curls dangling barely missing Piper's face. "I don't want to. He took my heart, squished it, stomped on it, chewed it up, spit it out, then shattered it."

Piper let out a breathy laugh. "Are you done yet?"

"No!"

But any further protesting, or coaxing, was interrupted when they heard two voices. Two _male_ voices.

"I get that you're trying to help and all-"

"No you don't!"

"-but I'm perfectly fine-"

"Tell that to your bloodshot eyes!"

"Blue cookies will fix it!"

Two boys, one with blond hair and the other with black hair, were facing off, both angry.

Piper cleared her throat and they seemed to realize they had an audience.

"It worked!" the blond called out with glee.

"Oh great," the black-haired boy muttered sarcastically.

The blond shot his friend a glare as Annabeth did the same to Piper.

"I'm Piper," she offered to extinguish the silence. The blond boy took it up.

"Jason. Please to... web chat with you."

Piper glanced at Annabeth expectantly, and Jason did the same to his friend. But both stayed quiet, and an awkward silence broke through again. They stayed like that until Annabeth finally spoke.

"Jason and Stranger, my name is none-of-your-goddamn-business."

Piper gasped, but Stranger, as Annabeth nicknamed the black-haired boy, seemed pleased.

"That's hilarious, Princess," he commented. Annabeth growled.

"Don't call me that!"

"Whatever you say... Princess." Annabeth growled again as "Stranger" disappeared.

"Sorry about him," Jason said. "He's going through a tough break-up."

"AM NOT!" his voice shouted back.

Piper softly smiled at Jason. "My friend too."

Jason nodded sadly, then smiled. "Can I speak to you privately?"

Piper glanced at Annabeth hesitantly. Annabeth sighed, then scrambled out the room and to the kitchen.

She was too busy slicing her banana for a Strawberry Banana smoothie to notice Piper sneak up on her nearly 10 minutes later.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Annabeth nodded, and Piper's face split into a grin. "I can't wait for tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow is Monday. You hate Mondays," Annabeth pointed out.

"I know but..." Piper sighed dreamily. "Jason wants to meet me tomorrow."

"He lives here? In NYC?"

"YES!"

"He could be an ax murderer!"

"Which is why you'll go with me." Annabeth's eyes narrowed. "Please?"

A sigh spoke the answer as Piper squealed.

"You won't regret it!"

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><p><strong>Annabeth's POV<strong>

I'm regretting it.

When Piper said it was going to be fun, I didn't believe her.

When she said I might have fun, I scoffed at her.

When she said I wouldn't regret it, I caved in.

But I was regretting it.

As soon as we walked into the cafe shop they had agreed to meet at, I found Stranger sitting next to Jason, staring out the window.

"I'm out, Piper."

She looked at me, demanding. "No. You said you'll meet him with me. So you will."

Reluctantly, I walked behind her as she went up to Jason and sat across from him. When I sat down, Stranger's eyes flicked towards me.

His eyes reflected the sea, green with tints of blue spread around. He scowled as he saw us.

"This is why you dragged me here?" Jason opened his mouth to reply, but he beat him. "Forget it. I'm gonna go do something productive for my _birthday_."

He walked out, leaving us staring after him.

"It's his birthday?" Piper finally asked.

"Yeah," Jason replied warily.

I suddenly felt bad, remembering what Jason had said last night. _"He's going through a tough break-up."_

"I'll go after him," I sad quietly, grabbing my bag and following where I saw Percy disappear.

I found him sitting on a bench in a small park near the cafe. He was quietly staring at the sky.

"Hey Stranger," I greeted him. His eyes flitted over to meet mine before returning to the horizon.

"Princess."

I narrowed my eyes. "Don't call me that."

He smiled. "What will you do if I keep calling you that?"

I thought for a minute. "Burst into tears to guilt you into feeling bad. Will that work on you? Are you just heartless?"

"I'd feel so bad, I'd probably offer you a whole plate of blue cookies." I stared at him. "If you knew me, you'd know how serious that was."

I breathed out. "So... let's get to know each other."

He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Piper and your friend, Jason... it's obvious they'll be dating."

"You mean it's obvious they'll have his and her graves?"

I smiled. "Exactly."

We sat in a silence, staring at the clouds, when he said "Blue."

I turned to him. "What?"

"My favorite color is blue."

I blinked. "That's nice. My favorite color is gray."

"Gray?"

I stared straight at him as he watched me, amused. "Green."

His eyebrows knit together. "Huh?"

"My favorite color...it's green."

"But you said-"

"I lied."

"You lied?"

"I lied."

We stared at each other, both of us refusing to break our gazes. Then, he smiled.

"You're certainly interesting, Princess."

"You're an asshole!" He cocked his head towards me. "Just because I have blonde hair, you call me princess?"

"That's not why."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I call you princess because it annoys you."

"As simple as that?"

"As simple as-"

He was cut off by his phone ringing. He pulled it out and stared at it before turning to me.

"What's your number?"

I rattled off the numbers cautiously as he typed them in.

"I have to go. But I'll text you later."

"Okay."

He held out his hand. "Percy Jackson."

I grasped it firmly in mine. "Annabeth Chase."

"Nice name." He turned around and walked away as I stood there, my ears ringing from his compliment.

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><p>"Someone got a phone number," Piper squealed, and I rolled my eyes.<p>

"I don't know what you're talking about."

As soon as I finished speaking, my phone chimed with a text alert.

"There's your Prince Charming," Piper whispered in a dramatic tone. I rolled my eyes again.

"You dragged me with you." I gave her a death glare as I continued. "If it hadn't been for you, I would not have run after him."

"And you would not have met your soul mate if it weren't for me."

"Piper," I groaned, "I will not be marrying Percy. I will not be _dating_ Percy. We're not even _friends_. We're like... acquaintances or something."

Piper stared at me, her emotion hard to read. Then she abruptly said "You smiled when you said his name."

I groaned again before flopping onto the bed. Piper smiled and tossed me my phone.

"Better check who sent you what."

I unlocked my phone, hiding the pass code and saw I had a text from and unknown number. Frowning, I opened it up.

_A close friend of mine is freaking out because he forgot to get the number of a kaleidoscope-eyed girl. Please, Princess, save me!_

Despite myself, I laughed.

"Who is it?" Piper asked.

"Your Prince Charming," I curtly replied.

"Jason? He doesn't have your number."

I sighed. Seriously, how many time will I need to be doing these kind of things? "Piper, it's Percy." She opened her mouth, but I beat her to it by rushing on. "He said that Jason is freaking out because he forgot to get your number."

Piper's eyes widened. "Oh my god! You're right! I can't believe we were so irresponsible."

I sighed, again. Really, I think I'm setting the world record for sighing the most. Quickly, I sent Percy Piper's number, telling him that if Jason didn't text her quickly, she was going to die. I could imagine him laughing. Then, it occurred to me that I hadn't heard him laugh at all. I mean, sure, I haven't spent a long time with him, but he should've laughed once, right?

_He's going through a tough break-up._

I don't know why I kept repeating those words in my mind, but something about them made me call Percy's number.

He picked up after the third ring.

"Princess?"

"Don't call me that," I snapped instantly, forgetting about whatever polite conversation we were going to have. "My name is Annabeth."

Piper didn't glance up from texting Jason. Nice friend, right? I walked out of my bedroom and made to sit on the kitchen counter.

"Right. Your name's Annabeth," he replied. That was all. No sarcasm, no witty remark, no nothing.

"I wanted to ask you something," I finally managed to say.

"Shoot."

"Jason said you were going through a tough break-up," I managed to blurt out before my courage failed. I could feel him freeze and tense up. Like, how could I? I barely knew the guy.

"He did, didn't he?"

Words were about to spill out of me before I stopped. Did I really want to tell a random stranger this?

_We were strangers before we were anything else. It's when I trusted you with my biggest secrets, my worst insecurities, that I realized just how much I could depend on you._

I hated those words. That was exactly what my mom said to my dad every morning before he left us. But I knew despite everything, those words were still true.

"My ex-boyfriend, Luke Castellan, he promised me he wouldn't hurt me." I could hear scuffling sounds from Percy's line.

"And I'm guessing he did?"

"That's why he's my ex, Seaweed Brain," I retorted. The sounds stopped.

"Seaweed Brain?"

"You don't seem that bright."

"Excuse me if I'm not sunshine and happiness just because my girlfriend dumped me."

"Not that kind of bright! See? You _are_ a Seaweed Brain."

"I don't like that nickname."

"Because you know it's true?"

"It is not true."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"Aww," I heard Piper coo, and I whipped around to see her. "You guys are already having your first romantic argument. And from this side, it sounds extremely romantic."

"Shouldn't you be flirting with Jason?" I ask, annoyed.

She smirked. "Already done, Annie. Your turn." I glared at her. I realized too late Percy was talking.

"-and then she said that there was. It's kind of been a tradition since then."

"Um, what?"

"You didn't hear a word I said?"

"Piper was talking," I defended myself.

"Piper? You mean the one with the ever-changing eyes, the amazing personality, the smile you can always get lost in?"

I blinked. He had seriously noticed these things about Piper? As if reading my mind, he said "Jason's been talking about her for an hour. I need to get out of here."

I smiled. "Meet me in the park in ten minutes. The park near Florean's Fortescue."

"Last one there pays," he said before hanging up.

I flew out the door before Piper could even comment. I'm a great friend, aren't I?

* * *

><p>Percy Jackson beat me by about 15 seconds, and yet he still paid for the ice cream. When I questioned him, he said he was just joking on the phone.<p>

"Luke cheated on me."

I just love that thing called a voice box, don't you? It just spits out information on its own. Do note my sarcasm, people.

"He did what?" Percy asked, his eyebrows scrunching together. I could tell he was wondering if he's heard me right.

"He cheated on me. With this girl named Kelli. She knew about me. I gave him a black eye and bruised jaw when I found out."

Percy was staring at me with an emotion I couldn't place. It wasn't sympathy, or pity. It was... pride.

"Nice job, Annabeth."

"Nice job?" I questioned.

"Sounds like you gave him what he deserved." And I smiled, despite myself.

"It felt great. We'd been friends for 3 years, dating for 1 year, and 7 months he was cheating on me. I was a fool to trust him."

Percy tilted his head in thought. "4 years. Seems enough time to gain anyone's trust."

"The thing is Percy," I said, closing my eyes. "I hate it when people break my trust. I want something permanent. It's why I want to be an architect."

"An architect?"

"I want to build a monument that will last hundreds of years. Something that screams that I once existed."

He nodded appreciatively. "That's very noble."

"You think so? Piper thinks it's too nerdy."

"Well, then, Piper doesn't know the genius she encounters everyday," Percy joked, bumping into me a little. Despite his joking tone, I knew he was serious. Somehow, I knew he really did think I was a genius. And it freaked me out that I could read him so clearly.

"How long ago?" he asked.

My response? "Huh?"

"How long ago did you find out? About Luke?" he pressed.

"A week ago."

He gazed into the distance. "So you've had seven days to move on."

"Eight," I corrected. "What about you?"

He was quiet for so long, I didn't think he'd answer.

"Percy? I asked, nudging him. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me."

His eyes flicked to mine, and he seemed to be looking for something. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare," he said.

I waited for him to continue.

"I met her at this rally she was doing for middle school art programs. Her dad... she hated what he did for a living. She wanted no part in it. And her dad hated me. It seemed to make her like even more. We started going out the day school ended. All summer, her dad kept talking about her going to a school in New Hampshire. She kept saying no."

He closed his eyes briefly before continuing.

"When her dad finally stopped pestering her, she decided she did want to go. She broke up with me and..." His eyes met mine. "She told me I was a distraction."

My breath hitched, and I resented myself for what came out next. "When?"

"Yesterday."

My jaw must've dropped to the ground, because Percy closed my mouth. "You're giving fire ants too many visuals," he said.

"Your birthday is today," I recalled out lour, slowly. He nodded. "And your girlfriend broke up with you yesterday." Again, he nodded.

"You should hear Jason's story. He was at some boarding school in San Francisco when his step-mother decided she wanted him to come to New York for his junior year. He broke up with his girlfriend, Reyna."

I blinked. "Piper's boyfriend wanted to try for a long-distance relationship. Piper went to surprise him last month; turned out he was sleeping with a new girl every night."

Percy's mouthed a silent 'Wow' before shaking his head. "Sounds like a douchebag."

I nodded. "His name was Dylan." He rolled his eyes at the name. "A lot of break-ups around, it seems."

Percy stared at me amused. "Annabeth, do you know the name of the website we video-chatted on last night?"

I shook my head. He showed me the URL in his history. I scoffed.

We spent the evening learning things about each other, joking and acting like we'd known each other for two decades, not days.

When I lay in my bed, I was still smiling from my evening.

_fixmybrokenheart .com_

Fix my broken heart indeed.

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><p><strong>Review and tell me how you liked it.<strong>

**Review and tell me how you hated hated.**

**But for Hermes's sake, review, people. I wanted documented proof about how you felt about this.**

**Smiles Burn In The Styx**


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